Manufacture of leather hats



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. S. WIBIRT AND WM. WIBIRT, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER HATS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 2,241, dated September 4, 1841.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMEs S. WIBIRT and )VILLIAM WVIBIRT, late of thetown of Eden, and now of the city of Buffalo, in the county of Erie andState of New York, have invented a new Mode of Manufacturing SeamlessLeather Hats and Hat and Cap Bodies; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description.

The nature of our invention consists in making hats and caps and hat andcap bodies of one single piece of leather, each, without seam.

To enable others skilled in the art to fabricate or manufacture hats andcaps and hat and cap bodies according to our invention we will proceedto describe the process.-

Take any tanned leather and shave it to an even or uniform thickness.Cut it out in a circular form of sufficient size to form the body of thehat or cap, as represented in Figure first (1st) in the accompanyingdrawings, of which figure the letter (D) represents the center, and theletters C, C, C, C, the outer edge or rim. Dampen the leathersufliciently to allow it to crimp and work easily. Place the center (D)upon the center of the top of a hat (or cap) block, as shown in Fig.(two) 2 in the drawings aforesaid, the letter A being the center of thetop of the block represented by the dotted lines and the letters B, B,B, and draw the leather down around and over the block and retain it inits place by means of a sliding cord or band over the leather as seen inFig. 2 by the letters D, D, and work down the leather C, C, C, C, with acommon known scouring iron or tool until the whole gather is thoroughlyput or worked into the hat or cap body as represented in Fig. three (3)of the drawings; and when dried the hat or cap body is completed as seenin said figure. All that remains then to be done is to trim the edge orrim E, E, E, as seen in said figure three (3), and to render the hat orcap impervious and elastic we take linseed and neats foot oils in equalproportions and as much gum elastic (india rubber) as the oils willdissolve and make the compound of a proper consistency to be applied,and color the same with any of the various coloring matters according tofancy; as asphaltum or ivory black to produce a black color, &c. Applythe same with a soft brush until the desired result is produced. Bindthe rim and line the body with any of the ordinary materials used forthe purpose and finally over the whole we apply the common water proofelastic varnish and the hat is completed as represented in Fig. (4) fourof the above mentioned drawings as by reference thereto will more fullyappear.

We do not claim as our invention the well known process of crimpingleather into various forms as this has long since been known; nor do weclaim the making of hats and caps of leather as this has been done, bysewing the parts together so as to give the form required.

lVhat therefore we do claim as our own invention and desire to secure byLetters Patent is The new fabric described above consisting of hats andcaps and hat and cap bodies made of leather without seams.

JAMES S. WIBIRT. WM. l/VIBIRT.

lVitnesses:

J. E. R. ABBOTT, O. H. DE FOUST.

